Mar 31

Throughout the history of human civilization, different cultures mourn and treat the dead differently. Some, like Tibetan Buddhists, have no use for burials as they dispose the dead by feeding corpses to vultures or by burning them in funeral pyres. Most cultures, however, show their respect by burying the dead, sometimes in complex and ornate tombs, crypts, and catacombs.

This article takes a look at ten of the most fascinating final resting places around the world, from the largest prehistoric burial mound in Europe to the the tombs of pharaohs to the most beautiful mausoleum in the world:

Newgrange

The burial mound of Newgrange in County Meath, Ireland is definitely one of the most impressive prehistoric monuments in the world. Build between 3300 BC - 2900 BC, it is the also the world’s oldest surviving building (it’s older than Stonehenge and the Great Pyramid of Giza in Egypt).

Newgrange is impressive: the circular mound is 250 feet (76 m) across and 40 feet (12 m) high. It covers an entire acre (4046 m²). A long tunnel under the mound leads to a high-domed burial chamber, a corbelled vault with ceilings made of huge, interlocking stone slabs.

The entrance to Newgrange is marked with a huge curbstone that is elaborately carved with “megalithic art,” which includes spiral and concentric arc motifs chipped into the stone with flint tools.


Newgrange burial mound. Image: mike nl [Flickr]


The wall of Newgrange. Image: Barbara y Eugenio [Flickr]


The engraved slab in front of Newgrange’s entrance. Image: mike nl [Flickr]

Tana Toraja

The Toraja people in Sulawesi, Indonesia, have what is probably the most complex funeral ritual in the world. When someone dies, the funeral is attended by a lot of people and can last for days! But that’s not the strange part - this is: the funeral ceremony is often held weeks, months, or even years after the death (to give the family of the deceased time to raise enough money for expenses).

Torajans can wait that long because they believe that death is not a sudden event but instead a gradual process towards the afterlife (if you’re wondering about the smell - the dead body is embalmed within the first few days of death, then stored in a secret place until the funeral ceremony).

After much partying (including the slaughter of one or several water buffaloes), the dead is buried in a stone cave carved out of a rocky cliff. A wood-carved effigy called tau tau, carved with the likeness of the dead person is then placed in the balcony of the tomb to represent the dead and watch over their remains.


Toraja cave tombs with balconies, filled with tau tau. Image: Kaeru [Flickr]


“In Tana Toraja, everything revolves around death. The graves can be very sophisticated yet sometimes, long after the coffins are destroyed by time, people gently place bones along natural cave ‘racks’. Often, the bones are offered cigarettes or various offerings. This is supposed to prevent dead ancestors from bringing bad luck and otherwise making the lives of the living miserable.”
Image: phitar [Flickr]

Westminster Abbey

The gothic church Westminster Abbey in London, United Kingdom was established by Benedictine monks in the tenth century (and rebuilt in the 13th century by King Henry III) - since then it has evolved into both the coronation church for English royalty and the final resting place of monarchs.

Though at first Westminster Abbey was the burial place of kings, aristocrats, and monks, it soon became the tomb-of-choice (if there is such a thing) for the who’s who in England. Poets and writers like Geoffrey Chaucer, Charles Dickens, Thomas Hardy, Rudyard Kipling, and Alfred Tennyson; as well as scientists like Sir Isaac Newton, Charles Darwin, and Ernest Rutherford were all interred there.


Westminster Abbey. Image: Inetours


Newton’s grave at Westminster Abbey. Image: Sacred Destination

Giza Necropolis

There are more than 100 pyramids in Egypt, with the largest and most famous being the complex of pyramids in Giza Necropolis, Cairo, Egypt. This complex consists of the Great Pyramid of Giza (tomb of the Egyptian pharaoh Khufu or Cheops), the Pyramid of Khafre, the Pyramid of Menkaure, the Great Sphinx statue, as well as several other smaller satellite pyramids.

Let’s take, for instance, the Great Pyramid of Giza, the only surviving member of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World. When it was completed in 2560 BC, the pyramid was 481 feet (147 m) tall with each base side being 758 feet (231 m) wide. The blocks weigh about 1.5 tons each, with the internal granite blocks used as the roof of the burial chamber being about 80 tons each. The ancient Egyptians knew what they were doing: the base sides have a mean margin of error of only 2 1/3 inch (58 mm)! Needless to say, it is an amazing work of engineering.


The Pyramids of Giza. Image: liber [Flickr]


The Great Sphinx. Image: ironmanix [Flickr]


The Pyramids of Giza are not too far from the urban sprawl of Cairo.
Image: graspnext [Flickr]

Valley of the Kings

Even if you don’t know much about the Valley of the Kings, a burial ground of ancient Egyptian pharaohs and one of the most famous archaeological sites in the world, chances are you know about one of its occupants: King Tut and the Curse of the Pharaohs that accompany his grave.

In 1922, Egyptologist Howard Carter discovered and opened the tomb of Tutankhamen - despite warnings that “Death shall come on swift wings to him who disturbs the peace of the King.” Lord Carnarvon, the funder of the expedition, was the first to die: he was bitten by a mosquito and later accidentally lashed the bite while shaving. His wound became infected and he died of blood poisoning.

Whether the “mysterious” deaths associated with the Curse of the Pharaoh actually had anything to do with opening of the tombs or just great copy to sell newspaper, scientists did recently discover that the tombs indeed contained potentially dangerous molds, bacteria, toxins, and even hazardous gases.


Valley of the Kings. Image: Shelby PDX [Flickr]


The tomb of King Tut in the Valley of the Kings. Image: Hajor [wikipedia]


Tomb of Ramses III in Luxor, Valley of the Kings. Image: Peter J. Bubenik [wikipedia]


Sarcophagus of the Pharaoh Merenptah in the KV8 tomb of the Valley of the Kings.
Image: Hajor [wikipedia]


Luxor Temple. Image: mike nl [Flickr]

Catacombs of Paris

Officially called les carrières de Paris or “the quarries of Paris,” the Catacombs of Paris is a network of underground tunnels and rooms that used to be Roman-era limestone quarries.

In the late 1700s, Paris was suffering from diseases caused by improper burials and mass graves in church cemeteries. Local authorities decided that they would remove thousands of bones and place them stacked in the abandoned underground quarries.

Today, the entrance to the catacombs is restricted and only a small portion of the 186 miles (300 km) worth of underground tunnels is accessible to the public. Secret entrances to the Catacombs, however, dotted Paris - urban explorers have found access via sewers, manholes and even the Paris Metro subway system.


Catacombs of Paris. Bones from the former Magdalene cemetery, deposited in 1844 in the western ossuary (bone repository) and transferred to the catacombs in 1859. Image: Vlastimil Juricek [wikipedia]


Wall of bones in the Catacombs of Paris. Image: Ivan Paganacci [Flickr]

Terracota Army

In 1974, local farmers in Xi’an, China, discovered a vast underground complex of mausoleum while drilling for water. They had serendipitously stumbled upon the burial ground of Qin Shi Huangdi, the First Emperor and the unifier of China.

According to legends, the First Emperor was buried alongside great treasures inside a tomb with pearl-laced ceilings (in a pattern that represented the cosmos) and channels dug in the ground with flowing mercury to represent the rivers of China. But the most famous feature of the tomb is the Terracota Army, about 8,000 life-like and life-sized statues of soldiers buried alongside Qin Shi Huangdi to help the Emperor rule in the afterlife.


Terracota army. Image: MichaelTyler [Flickr]


Image: mkools [Flickr]


Each face and pose of the Terracota army soldier is distinct from the others. Image: Peter Morgan [wikipedia]

Capuchin Catacombs of Palermo

When the Capuchin monastery in Palermo, Italy, outgrew its original cemetery in the 16th century, monks excavated the catacomb below it and began a bizarre tradition that lasted until the 19th century.

The Capuchin monks mummified the bodies of the dead, dressed them up in everyday clothing and then put them on display on the monastery walls. Apparently, it was quite a status symbol to be entombed in the Capuchin monastery - prominent citizens of the town would ask to be preserved in certain clothing or even have the clothes changed on a regular basis according to contemporary fashion!

When the last body was interred in the late 1800s, there were 8,000 mummies on the walls of the Capuchin monastery and in the catacombs.


Capuchin Catacombs. Image: deadgoodbooks [Flickr]


Mummies on the wall of the Capuchin Catacombs. Image: Kircher Society

Sedlec Ossuary

The Sedlec Ossuary resides in a small Roman Catholic chapel in Sedlec, Czech Republic. If you didn’t know any better, you wouldn’t have guessed that inside the unassuming building is an ossuary containing about 40,000 human skeletons artistically arranged to form decorations, chandeliers, and furnishings!

In the 13th century, an abbot returned to Sedlec with a small amount of earth from Golgotha, the site of Jesus’ crucifixion, and sprinkled it all over the abbey’s cemetery. This made the grounds of the church a desirable burial site and over centuries thousands of people were buried there.

In 1870, František Rint, a woodcarver was hired to put the heaps of bones in order. He decided to make a work of art out of the skeletal remains: a chandelier made from skull and bones, a coat of arms of the family that paid him to do the work, and even an “artist’s signature” done in bone, of course!


Little would you suspect what lies inside … Image: currybet [Flickr]


Entrance to the Sedlec Ossuary. Image: Curious Expeditions [Flickr]


The chandelier at Sedlec Ossuary. Image: B10m [Flickr]


The Schwarzenberg family’s coat of arms, done with at least one of every
bone in the body. Image: goldberg [Flickr]

Taj Mahal

No article on tombs is complete without the Taj Mahal, a magnificent mausoleum in Agra, India. The Taj Mahal was built in 1631 by the Mughal Emperor Shah Jahan, who was devastated when his wife Mumtaz Mahal died during childbirth. Grief stricken, he ordered that the most beautiful mausoleum be built.

Taj Mahal is an amazing architectural wonder: the marble tomb in the center of the complex is flanked on four corners by minarets. The massive central dome, called the onion dome because of its shape, is striking in its symmetrical perfection. Finials and calligraphy are everywhere.

Inside the Taj Mahal is even more ornate: Precious and semi-precious gemstones are inlaid into the the intricately carved marble panels that serve as walls. The caskets of Mumtaz and Shah Jahan are decorated with gems and inscribed with calligraphy, reciting the 99 names of God.

The story of the Taj Mahal actually didn’t end with the completion of its buildings: shortly after its completion, Shah Jahan fell ill and a power struggle amongst his four sons ensued. The victor, Aurangzeb, locked the king in the Fort of Agra, where he remained until he died. Legend has it that he spent the remainder of his life gazing at the Taj Mahal, the tomb of his beloved wife, from the window of his prison.


Taj Mahal from a distance. Image: Christopher Chan [Flickr]


The Taj Mahal in Agra, India. Image: micbaun [Flickr]


The tombs of Shah Jahan and Mumtaz Mahal. Image: William Donelson [wikipedia]

Mar 31


Andreas Vesalius De humani corporis fabrica libri septem (On the fabric of the human body in seven books), 1543

1. The average human body comprises enough fat to make seven bars of soap, enough iron to make a medium sized nail, enough potassium to explode a toy cannon, enough lime to whitewash a small chicken coop, enough sugar to fill a jam jar, and enough sulfur to rid a dog of fleas.

2. A complete skeleton is worth between $5,000 and $7,500 to a medical student; your skull alone would fetch only about $450.

3. Your mouth produces about one quart of saliva per day.

4. Demodex folliculorum has eight stumpy legs and a tail, is about a third of a millimeter long, and loves nothing more than to recline in the warm, oily pits of your hair follicles. Most adults have this mite, usually on the head, but especially in eyelashes. And often, they’re in nipples.

5. You have approximately 4,000 wax glands in each ear.

6. The average adult stool weighs about 4 ounces. And half of the bulk of your feces comprises the dead bodies of bacteria that live inside your intestines.

7. The average male foot exudes half a pint of sweat each day.

8. If it weren’t for the slimy mucous that clings to and lines the walls of your gut, your stomach would readily digest itself.

9. The average person will pass about 11,000 gallons of urine in a lifetime.

10. A man weighing 200 lbs. would provide enough meat to feed 100 cannibals in one sitting.

Mar 30

1. The Cold Fusion Incident

Fusion power has been heralded as the solution to our future power needs. After all, it promises to provide a nearly limitless supply of energy with minimal environmental impact. The current problem, though, is that it takes a tremendous amount of energy to fuse together nuclei.

So, when Stanley Pons and Martin Fleischmann announced to a hungry scientific world that they’d discovered cold fusion in 1989 (a process that supposedly used much less energy), the duo were welcomed with splashy headlines.

Other scientists were dubious, and when Pons and Fleischmann withdrew their paper from Nature magazine and refused to answer questions, charges of fraud were made. Pons and Fleischmann never gave enough details of the experiment to allow others to replicate it, and more than 10 years later no one has been able to replicate their results.

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There are still scientists who believe Pons and Fleischmann were on to something, but the premature claims of cold fusion cast such doubt on these two researchers that they were doomed to ignominy.

2. Scientist in on God’s Prank

In the early 18th century Dr. Johann Beringer of the University of Würzburg devoted his research to the discovery of fossils that seemed to indicate prehistoric life. Beringer, however, believed that these fossils were “capricious fabrications of God,” used to test man’s faith. His belief seemed confirmed when at one site he discovered fossils of birds, beetles, moons, and stars. Little did he know that two mean-spirited colleagues had planted the fake fossils. Perhaps trying to get caught, they even planted tablets inscribed with the Hebrew and Arabic words for God. Beringer published a book, Lithographia Wirceburgensis, in 1726 describing his findings and his theory. But then he made another discovery: a similar buried tablet inscribed with his own name. He immediately began trying to buy back all the available copies of his book, but it was too late. Because of the hoax, his book became a bestseller.


Cardiff Giant being exhumed, October 1869

3. George and the Cardiff Giant

George Hull had no patience with fools, but he exhibited great patience for making a fool of others. After arguing with a clergyman who claimed that giants had walked the earth because the Bible said so, Hull proceeded to carve a 10-foot gypsum statue of a man. He then buried his creation on a neighboring New York farm. In 1869, a full year later, Hull hired some well diggers, who discovered his stone man on the job. Of course people gathered to see this oddity, and rumors began to spread that it was a fossilized human of gigantic proportions. Many saw it for the hoax it was, but when two Yale professors declared it genuine, the proof of giants on earth became set in stone. Eventually Hull had to admit it was a fake after he sued P.T. Barnum for exhibiting a copy of it. Barnum claimed his statue was just a hoax of a hoax and was found not guilty.

4. The Most Unnatural of Selections

In the mid-1800s pollution from factories in Britain was darkening trees by killing the lichen, and scientists also noted a decline in the ratio between lighter-colored peppered moths and darker varieties.

It was hypothesized that the lighter moths were easier to spot and thus were eaten by more birds. Here was evolution in action. Bernard Kettlewell sat in the woods and watched to see whether birds preferred the lighter version to darker, and he reported that indeed they were twice as likely to eat the lighter moths.

Three problems, though: (1) Kettlewell was responsible for nailing dead moths to the trees for the birds to feed on, (2) peppered moths rarely alight on tree trunks, and (3) birds don’t normally feed on months moths that are on the side of trees. Even after scientists were informed of these inconsistencies, many still clung to the validity of the experiment, perhaps because they wanted to believe it as the canonical example of observed natural selection.

5. Sex and the Seedy

Alfred Kinsey’s landmark studies of the 1950s, known as the Kinsey Reports, were the major emphasis on late-20th-century views of human sexuality. The incidence of homosexuality, bisexuality, adultery, and childhood sexual behavior were higher than previously thought, which helped lead to different views of adult and childhood sexual behavior. According to Judith Reisman, however, Kinsey’s research was fraught with very bad scientific method and possibly fraud. He obtained much of his data by interviewing prisoners, his interviewing technique was biased, and he used reports from pedophiles to hypothesize about childhood sexual behavior. Kinsey’s estimates on the extent of homosexual behavior (38.7% in males ages 36 - 40) have not been validated in subsequent studies. In contrast, a Batelle report found that 2.3% of men reported having sex with another man. Nonetheless, Kinsey’s landmark study still remains one of the primary sources for current sexuality discussions.

6. Anything for Albert

Arthur Eddington was so convinced of the theory of general relativity that he altered his data to support it. Eddington set out to put Einstein to the test by carefully measuring how light was bent during a solar eclipse.

But apparently the examiner went soft. When the results were in, Eddington threw out 16 photographic plates that didn’t support Einstein’s theory. Even worse, he then published his research without those 16 plates and showed how Einstein’s theory accurately predicted the resulting data. It was this experiment that helped launch the public acceptability of relativity. Strangely enough, the hoax still has legs. You can still find the experiment listed in current textbooks as “proof” of Einstein’s theory.

7. Errors of a Graphic Nature

A more recent incident of fraudulent science concerns Jan Hendrik Schön, a physicist at Bell Laboratories. Considered brilliant, Schön was on the fast track in the field of nanoelectronics. His name was even mentioned for a possible Nobel Prize. But his rate of publication (40 a year) and his amazing results began to make some colleagues curious. Eventually Schön was caught falsifying data when he presented identical graphs in two different papers - and the graphs were supposed to be on different topics. Bell Labs themselves initiated an investigation and were rightfully horrified to find gross misconduct.

8. The Great Tasaday Hoax

One of the most startling anthropological discoveries of the 20th century was the discovery of a primitive, cave-dwelling society in the Philippines in 1971. The Tasadays, as they were called, were a find of enormous proportions because they lived a life undisturbed by hundreds of years of society. And to many an academic’s delight, antropologiest could now directly observe how people lived in such societies. The Tasadays even used stone tools.

If you’re thinking it’s impossible that such an isolated group could exist in the Philippines as late as the 1970s, you’re right. It turns out that their “discoverer,” PANAMIN (Private Association National Minorities) secretary Manuel Elizalde Jr., paid local farmers to live in the caves, take off their clothes, and appear Stone Age. In return he gave them money and security from counterinsurgency and tribal fighting.

The fact that the Tasaday were a hoax was not confirmed until the fall of Marcos in 1983, invalidating, no doubt, many PhD dissertations that had been written in the interim.

9. Don’t Worry about the EMF, but Please Don’t Talk and Drive

Concerns about the dangers of living close to high-tension wires or of frequent use of cell phones have been hot topics for the past decade. Unfortunately, one of the studies that warned about the dangers of electromagnetic field (EMF) damage was a case of fraudulent science.

Robert P. Liburdy, a cell biologist at the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, was a leading researcher looking into the dangers of EMF. No study up to that point had shown any increase in risk due to electromagnetic field. Liburdy set out to change that, however, as his papers claimed that the fields could cause a disruption in calcium, which is important to cell function.

According to external reviewers, however, Liburdy left out, manipulated, and otherwise misrepresented the data to support the conclusions he was looking for. While the intense debate about the possible dangers of EMF will continue, it will do so without Liburdy’s findings.
Mar 29

Jesus Christ didn’t need fancy churches, but thank goodness that some people didn’t listen too well and built magnificent buildings to glorify God. Today, there are thousands of churches: some small and simple, whereas others are humongous and ornately decorated.Let’s take a look at some divinely designed churches around the world, both classic and modern in style:

Las Lajas Cathedral


Las Lajas Cathedral (Image Credit: Jungle_Boy [Flickr])


Las Lajas Cathedral, side view from the bottom (Image Credit: julkastro [Flickr])

The Sanctuary of Our Lady of Las Lajas in Colombia, was built in 1916 on a site where, according to local legend, the Virgin Mary appeared. The story goes like this: an Indian woman named María Mueses de Quiñones was carrying her deaf-mute daughter Rosa on her back near Las Lajas (”The Rocks”). Weary of the climb, the María sat down on a rock when Rosa spoke (for the first time) about an apparition in a cave.

Later on, a mysterious painting, of the Virgin Mary carrying a baby was discovered on the wall of the cave. Supposedly, studies of the painting showed no proof of paint or pigments on the rock - instead, when a core sample was taken, it was found that the colors were impregnated in the rock itself to a depth of several feet.

Whether true or not, the legend spurred the building of a gothic church worthy of a fairy tale.

Sagrada Familia


La Sagrada Familia, always under construction (Image Credit: chrisjfry [Flickr])


A fantastic photo detailing the exterior of the La Sagrada Familia church
by Christopher Chan [Flickr]


La Sagrada at night (Image Credit: martinhughes81 [Flickr])

La Sagrada Familia, or Catalan for “The Holy Family”, is a yet-to-be-finished Roman Catholic basilica in Barcelona, Spain.

The church’s design is rich with Christian symbolism, with façades featuring intricate details describing the birth, life, death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ. Perhaps the most awe inspiring is the eighteen towers representing the 12 Apostles, 4 Evangelists, the Virgin Mary, and a central tower - the tallest of them all - representing Christ.

The construction of the Sagrada Familia basilica started in 1882, directed by Catalan architect Antoni Gaudí, who devoted his life to it. When people said that the construction had taken a very long time, Gaudí replied that he was building the church for God, and that his client wasn’t in a hurry. He then became known as “God’s Architect.”

In 1926, Gaudí got run over by a street car. Because of his raggedy attire and empty pockets, no one wanted to take him to the hospital. Eventually, he was taken to a pauper’s hospital where no one recognized him until his friends found him and tried to move him to another hospital. Gaudí refused, saying that he belonged with the poor, and died a few days later.

Because Gaudí refused to work with blue prints, preferring to use his imagination and memory instead, construction of La Sagrada Familia was halted after his death. Part of the church was even burnt during the Spanish Civil War. Construction of La Sagrada Familia was restarted afterwards and continues until today.

St. Basil’s Cathedral


St. Basil’s Cathedral (Image Credit: kirkh [Flickr])


St. Basil’s Cathedral at night (Image Credit: rwike77 [Flickr])

As its name implies, St. Basil’s Cathedral on the Red Square in Moscow, Russia, is named after Saint Basil (who is also known as Basil Fool for Christ). The story goes that in the 1500s, an apprentice shoemaker/serf named Basil stole from the rich to give to the poor. He also went naked, weighed himself with chains, and rebuked Ivan the Terrible for not paying attention in church. Most of the time, admonishing anyone with name “the Terrible” wasn’t such a good idea, but apparently Ivan had a soft spot for the holy fool (as Basil was also known) and ordered a church to be built in his name after Basil died.

St. Basil’s Cathedral, a Russian Orthodox church, sports a series of colorful bulbous domes that taper to a point, aptly named onion domes, that are part of Moscow’s Kremlin skyline (although the church is actually not part of the Kremlin).

Oh, and Ivan the Terrible lived up to his name after he supposedly blinded the architect who built the church so he would not be able to design something as beautiful afterwards.

Hagia Sophia


Hagia Sophia (Image Credit: Sloppy Stephen [Flickr])


Simply a gorgeous night photo of Hagia Sophia (Image Credit: Qaoz [Flickr])

Technically, Hagia Sophia (Greek for the Church of the Holy Wisdom of God) is no longer a church, it is now a museum in Istanbul, Turkey. It began its life as an early Christian church, then rebuilt as the seat of the Eastern Orthodox Church in Constantinople, then a mosque when the city fell to the Turks in 1453 before it finally became a museum.

Hagia Sophia as we know it today was completed by Byzantine Emperor Justinian I in 537. When completed, the temple was so large and richly decorated that Justinian proclaimed “Solomon, I have surpassed thee!”. It remained the largest church for one thousand years after it was completed.

Hagia Sophia is one of the greatest surviving examples of Byzantine architecture, with a large central dome and interior intricately decorated with mosaics, marbles, and stone inlays. The dome, often referred to as the vault of heaven, was a new architectural feature at the time, necessitating the invention of a new pillar support system.

Today, the restoration of Hagia Sophia is a delicate balance of restoring Christian iconographic mosaics under historic Islamic art, which would have to be destroyed to reveal the work underneath.

St. Peter’s Basilica


St. Peter’s Basilica (Image Credit: dionc [Flickr])


St. Peter’s Basilica at night (Image Credit: MichaelTurk [Flickr])


Cupola or dome of St. Peter’s Basilica (Image Credit: robert_562 [Flickr])


Ornately detailed interior of the St. Peter’s Basilica (Image Credit: scot2342 [Flickr])

The largest religious building in the world, not to mention the center of Christianity, I suppose, belongs in this list. St. Peter’s Basilica in Vatican City is built over the tomb of St. Peter the Apostle, and is the largest church in the tiny country. It is truly immense: the church covers an area of 5.7 acres (2.3 ha) and has a capacity of over 60,000 people.

Before St. Peter’s Basilica as we know it was built, there was already a church there built in 324 C.E. by Emperor Constantine, the first Christian emperor of Rome. That church lasted for about 1,200 years until the crumbling structure was torn down to build the modern-day basilica. St. Peter’s Basilica was built by the who’s who of the Renaissance era: Michelangelo designed the dome, Gian Lorenzo Bernini designed the main square, and Donato Bramante was the first architect of the church.

Notre Dame


Notre Dame HDR (Image Credit: Delox - :: SK :: EU :: [Flickr])


Notre Dame at night (Image Credit: Atoma [wiki])


Interior HDR of Notre Dame (Image Credit: mircea tudorache [Flickr]). [Update 5/9/07: Oops, not Notre Dame de Paris. It’s Notre Dame in Montreal, Still, I left it up because it is quite a beautiful photo.]


Another interior picture of Notre Dame (Image Credit: eugene [Flickr])


South Rose Window of Notre Dame (Image Credit: robert_562 [Flickr])

Notre Dame of Paris or simply Notre Dame is the quintessential example of Gothic Architecture. Construction of the church started in 1163, when Bishop Maurice de Sully decided to build a cathedral befitting his status as the bishop of Paris. Notre Dame was completed some 200 years later - one of the first European cathedrals to be built on a truly monumental scale.

A particularly striking feature of Notre Dame are its Rose Windows - massive (at the time they were the largest windows in the world) circular stained glass windows that depict scenes from the bible.

Legend has it that when Notre Dame’s bell “Emmanuel” was recast in the 1600s, women threw their gold jewelry into the molten metal to give the bell its unique ring.

At the end of the 18th century, during the French Revolution, the church was ransacked, its treasures plundered and many of the statues of saints were beheaded. Notre Dame was dedicated to the Cult of Reason and then the Cult of the Supreme Being - for a while, it was even used as a barn!

In 1831, Notre Dame was made famous by Victor Hugo, who wrote “The Hunchback of Notre Dame,” about Quasimodo, a hunchback bell ringer who fell in love with the Gypsy Esmeralda. The popularity of the book spurred a gothic revival in France and helped the restoration of the cathedral back to its original splendor.

Hallgrímskirkja


Hallgrímskirkja (Image Credit: Andreas Tille [wiki])

Hallgrimskirkja (Icelandic for the Church of Hallgrímur), the tallest building in Iceland, is named after Hallgrímur Pétursson, a 17th century poet and clergyman.

The church’s unusual design (some had likened it to a rude hand gesture) is supposed to represent volcanic columns rising between the steeple tower - a reference to Iceland’s many volcanoes.

The iconic building looks like it belongs in J.R.R. Tolkien’s Lord of the Rings. Indeed, many aspects of Tolkien’s work was inspired by Norse mythologies and many of the fictional names in the book are Norse in origin, although there is no reference that Hallgrímskirkja served as a model any of the towers in the book.

Jubilee Church


Richard Meier’s Jubilee Church (Image Credit: alaninabox [Flickr])


Back view of the church (Image Credit: alaninabox[Flickr])

You can’t miss the distinctive curved walls of The Jubilee of Church in Tor Tre Teste, Rome. It was designed in 1996 by architect Richard Meier, who said that the modern-styled church is the “the crown jewel of the Vicariato di Roma’s (Archdiocese of Rome) Millennium project.” And right he was!

The curved walls not only serve the engineering purpose of minimizing thermal peak loads in the interior space, they are also a religious methapor:

Three circles of equal radius generate the profiles of the three shells that, together with the spine-wall, make up the body of the nave. While the three shells discretely imply the Holy Trinity, the reflecting pool symbolizes water in the ritual of Baptism.

Notre Dame du Haut


Notre Dame du Haut or Ronchamp (Image Credit: jimgrant [Flickr])

If there was a church modeled after Elvis’ hair, Le Corbusier’s Notre Dame du Haut is it. The pilgrimate chapel is located in Ronchamp, France. Indeed, it is more famous than the little town that most people simply call the structure itself Ronchamp.

The cleverness of unusual design of the billowing concrete roof is apparent when it rains: water pours off the slanted roof onto a fountain, creating a dramatic waterfall.

Although quite different from his usual design, Notre Dame du Haut is considered one of Le Corbusier’s finest work.

The Crystal Cathedral


Crystal Cathedral (Image Credit: richmanwisco [Flickr])


Interior of the Crystal Cathedral, notice the giant organ (Image Credit: Wikipedia)


Another view of the interior (Image Credit: Savannah Grandfather [Flickr])

The Crystal Cathedral is neither made of crystal nor is it a cathedral. Nevertheless, the Christian megachurch in the city of Garden Dove, California, is one amazing church.

Built by “The Hour of Power” televangelist Rev. Dr. Robert H. Schuller (who started out with a “drive-in” church located in an actual, old drive-in movie theater!) and his wife Arvella, and designed by architect Philip Johnson, the church is made almost entirely out glass with a web-like framework of steel.

From the outside, the Crystal Cathedral is shaped like a giant four-pointed crystal star, with the main “cathedral” rising 12 stories above the ground, featuring a mirror-like exterior composed of some 12,000 panes of glass. The view is even more amazing from the interior, where the transparent glass lets in the surrounding view, sunlight and the sky.

The Crystal Cathedral also has one of the largest pipe organs in the world, called the Hazel Wright Pipe Organ, with 5 consoles controlling 270 ranks, 31 digital ranks, and more than 16,000 pipes!

Bonus: Darth Vader Grotesque

Waaaay up near the top of the tower of the Washington National Cathedral, there is a carved grotesque (a structural element to deflect rainwater from the building, similar to a gargoyle) shaped like.. Darth Vader!

How did the Star Wars villain get there? Turns out in the 1980s, the Cathedral sponsored a sculpture design competition for children. Four winning designs were chosen: a raccoon, a girl with pigtails and braces, a man with large teeth and an umbrella, and lastly, Darth Vader.

If you must know, the Darth sculpture was proposed by Christopher Rader of Kearney, Nebraska.

Bonus: The Abston Church of Christ


Amy Hughes’ LEGO Church

Computer programmer Amy Hughes built a fantastically detailed 7 feet by 5 1/2 feet by 30 inches miniature church out of LEGO, called the Abston Church of Jesus Christ!

Why Abston? That’s because LEGO is made out of Acrylonitrile Butadiene Styrene (ABS). It took her over a year to build the church.

Bonus: The Dog Chapel


Stephen Huneck’s Dog Chapel, complete with statue of a man walking his dog

After his dogs (and loving wife!) helped him recover from a serious illness that doctors thought would kill him, artist Stephen Huneck’s decided to build a chapel in honor man’s best friend.

Huneck built the dog chapel on his mountain-top farm in St. Johnsbury, Vermont. Inside, there are four pews with dog sculptures, a fantastic dog stained-glass window and other interesting dog-themed arts.

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Mar 29

More than a quarter of all people in the world belong to Eastern religions, which include Buddhism, Hinduism, Sikhism, and Taoism. These people worship in temples, which are architecturally as diverse as the religions are different from each other. From the ancient ruins of Ankor Wat to the distinctly modern Wat Rong Khun, there are hundreds if not thousands of amazing temples in the world.

I have long been fascinated by the temples and sacred sites of Eastern religions. After doing an article on some amazing churches from around the world, it’s only right that we do a follow up on the ten most fascinating temples in Asia. Here they are, in no particular order:

Tiger’s Nest Monastery

Tiger’s Nest Monastery, perched precariously on the edge of a 3,000-feet-high cliff in Paro Valley, is one of the holiest places in Bhutan. Legend has it that Guru Rimpoche, the second Buddha, flew onto the cliff on the back of a tigress, and then meditated in a cave which now exists within the monastery walls.

The monastery, formally called Taktshang Goemba, was built in 1692 and reconstructed in 1998 after a fire. Now, the monastery is restricted to practicing Buddhists on religious retreats and is off-limits to ordinary tourists.


Image: Leo Palmer Photography


Image: Douglas J. McLaughlin

Wat Rong Khun

Wat Rong Khun in Chiang Rai, Thailand is unlike any Buddhist temples in the world. The all-white, highly ornate structure gilded in mosaic mirrors that seem to shine magically, is done in a distinctly contemporary style. It is the brainchild of renowned Thai artist Chalermchai Kositpipat.

Actually, the temple is still under construction. Chalermchai expects it will take another 90 years to complete, making it the Buddhist temple equivalent of the Sagrada Familia church in Barcelona, Spain!


Wat Rong Khun, the White Temple. Image: majorbonnet [Flickr]


Wat Rong Khun, from a distance. Image: AraiGordai [Flickr]


Details of the temple roof. Image: AraiGordai [Flickr]


The ornately detailed arches. Image: Alicia Lim [Flickr]


Buddha sculpture, gilded with mosaic mirrors. Image: majorbonnet [Flickr]


The hands of hell want your change. Image: pim [Flickr]

Prambanan

Prambanan is a Hindu temple in Central Java, Indonesia. The temple was built in 850 CE, and is composed of 8 main shrines and 250 surrounding smaller ones.

Nearly all the walls of the temple are covered in exquisite bas relief carvings, which narrate stories of Vishnu’s incarnations, adventures of Hanuman the Monkey King, the Ramayana epic and other legends.

Though not the biggest temple in Indonesia (Borobudur is larger - see below), Prambanan makes up in beauty and grace for what it lacks in size.


Prambanan’s main complex. Image: Rosino [Flickr]


Six of Prambanan’s eight main shrines. Image: kashikar [Flickr]


Prambanan at night. Image: Tierecke [Flickr]


Bas-Relief at Prambanan. Image: Jungle_Boy [Flickr]

Shwedagon Pagoda

No one knows exactly when the Shwedagon Payal (or Pagoda) in Myanmar was built - legend has it that it is 2,500 years old though archaeologists estimate that it was built between the 6th and 10th century.

Now, when people say “golden temple” they usually mean that the structure is golden in color. But when it comes to the Shwedagon Pagoda, golden literally means covered in gold! In the 15th century, a queen of the Mon people donated her weight in gold to the temple. This tradition continues until today, where pilgrims often save for years to buy small packets of gold leafs to stick to the temple walls.

As if all that gold wasn’t enough, the spire of the stupa or dome is covered with over 5,000 diamonds and 2,000 rubies (there’s even a 76 carat diamond at the very tip!). And oh, the temple housed one of the holiest relics in Buddhism: eight strands of Buddha’s hair.


Shwedagon Pagoda and its golden stupa. Image: Dust Mason [Flickr]


Shwedagon Pagoda at night. Image: M.Bob [Flickr]

Temple of Heaven

The temple of Heaven is a taoist temple in Beijing, the capital of China. The temple was constructed in 14th century by Emperor Yongle of the Ming Dynasty (who also built the Forbidden City) as his personal temple, where he would pray for good harvest and to atone for the sins of his people.

The Temple’s architecture is quite interesting: everything in the temple, which represents Heaven, is circular whereas the ground levels, which represent the Earth, are square.


The Hall of Prayer for Good Harvest at the Temple of Heaven, Beijing.
Image: Saad Akhtar


Close up of the Hall of Prayer for Good Harvest, Temple of Heaven.
Image: star5112 [Flickr]


Details of the roof of the Hall of Prayer for Good Harvest. Image: werklife [Flickr]


Ceiling of the Imperial Vault, Temple of Heaven. Image: Carol^-^ [Flickr]

Chion-in Temple

Chion-in Temple is built in 1234 CE to honor the founder of Jodo (Pure Land) Buddhism, a priest named Honen, who fasted to death in the very spot. At one point in time, the complex had 21 buildings but due to earthquakes and fire, the oldest surviving building is from the 17th century.

Visitors to the Chion-in Temple must first pass through the largest gate in Japan: the two-story San-mon Gate. The temple bell is also a record setter: it weighs 74 tons and needs 17 monks to ring it during the New Year celebrations.

Another interesting feature of the Chion-in Temple is the “singing” floor of the Assembly Hall. Called a uguisu-bari or nightingale floor, the wooden planks were designed to creak at every footstep to alert the monks of intruders!


Chion-in Temple’s Main Gate. Image: tgamblin [Flickr]


A building in the Chion-in Temple complex in winter time. Image: psychofish [Flickr]


Details of the Chion-in Temple roof. Notice a feudal family’s crest stamped on the roof tiles, as a symbol of their patronage. Image: kuribo [Flickr]


Chion-in’s Temple Bell. Image: Richard Seaman


The Nightingale Floor construction. Image: rygriffin333 [Flickr]

Borobudur

In the 19th century, Dutch occupiers of Indonesia found a massive ancient ruin deep in the jungles of Java. What they discovered was the complex of Borobudur, a gigantic structure built with nearly 2 million cubic feet (55,000 m³) of stones. The temple has nearly 2,700 relief panels and 504 Buddha statues.

Until today, no one knows for sure when and why it was built, nor the reason for its complete abandonment hundreds of years ago. Some scholars believe that Borobudur is actually a giant textbook of Buddhism, as its bas reliefs tell the story of the life of Buddha and the principles of his teachings. To “read,” a pilgrim must make his way through nine platforms and walk a distance of over 2 miles.


Aerial view of Borobudur. Image: Kenyon College


Image: hceebee [Flickr]

Image: elbisreverri [Flickr]


Image: susan catherine [Flickr]


The upper level of Borobudur. Image: kashikar [Flickr]


Inside each of the lattice stupa is a Buddha statue. Image: Jin Aili [Flickr]


A bas relief in Borobudur. Image: lizamber [Flickr]

Golden Temple

The Harmandir Sahib (meaning The Abode of God) or simply the Golden Temple in Punjab, India is the most sacred shrine of Sikhism. For the Sikhs, the Golden Temple symbolizes infinite freedom and spiritual independence.

The site of the Temple began with a small lake that was so peaceful that even Buddha came there to meditate. Thousands of years later, Guru Nanak, the founder of Sikhism also lived and meditate by the lake.

Construction of the Golden Temple began in the 1500s, when the fourth Guru of Sikhism enlarged the lake that became Amritsar or Pool of the Nectar of Immortality, around which the temple and the city grew. The Temple itself is decorated with marble sculptures, gilded in gold, and covered in precious stones.


Golden Temple, from a distance. Image: Saurabh C [Flickr]


The Golden Temple of Amristar. Image: Saurabh C [Flickr]


The Golden Temple of Amritsar at night. Image: Saurabh C [Flickr]


Image: Saurabh C [Flickr]

Vishnu Temple of Srirangam

The Temple of Srirangam, in the Indian city of Tiruchirapalli (or Trichy), is the largest functioning Hindu temple in the world (Ankor Wat is the largest of all temple, but it is currently non-functioning as a temple - see below).

The temple is dedicated to Vishnu, one of three Gods in Hinduism. Legend has it that a long time ago, a sage rested and put down a statue of Vishnu reclining on a great serpent. When he was ready to resume his journey, he discovered that the statue couldn’t be moved, so a small temple was built over it. Over centuries, the temple “grew” as larger ones were built over the existing buildings.

The temple complex is massive: it encompasses an area of over 150 acres (63 hectares) with seven concentric walls, the outermost being about 2.5 miles (4 kilometers) long! The walls demarcate enclosures within enclosures, each more sacred than the next, with the inner-most enclosure is forbidden to non-Hindus.

The Temple of Srirangam is famous for its gopurams or entrances beneath colorful pyramids. The temple has 21 gopurams total, with the largest one having 15 stories and is nearly 200 feet (60 m) tall.


Temple of Srirangam, with its colorful gopurams. Image: licinivs [Flickr]


The largest gopuram of the Temple of Srirangam. Image: Subash Chandran [Flickr]


The carved pillars in the Srirangam Temple complex. Image: appaji [Flickr]

Angkor Wat, Angkor Thom, and Bayon

Last but definitely not least is the largest temple in history and the inspiration to countless novels and action movies of Hollywood: Ankor Wat. Was built in the early 12th century in what is now Cambodia. The world famous temple was first a Hindu one, dedicated to Vishnu. In the 14th or 15th century, as Buddhism swept across Asia, it became a Buddhist temple.

The Western world’s got a glimpse of Angkor Wat when a 16th century Portuguese monk visited the temple and eloquently described it as “of such extraordinary construction that it is not possible to describe it with a pen, particularly since it is like no other building in the world. It has towers and decoration and all the refinements which the human genius can conceive of.” His words still rang true today.

Tourists visiting Angkor Wat usually also visit the nearby ruins of Angkor Thom and Bayon, two fantastic temples that serve as the ancient capital of Khmer empire.


Angkor Wat. Image: jpslim [Flickr]


The face of Bodhisattva Avalokiteshvara at Angkor Thom.
Image: Manfred Werner [wikipedia]


Bayon, which described by Maurice Glaize, an Angkor conservator of the 1940s, as “but a muddle of stones, a sort of moving chaos assaulting the sky”
Image: Charles J. Sharp


Entrance to Bayon. That man on the bike is carrying coconuts. Lots and lots of coconuts. Image: therefromhere [Flickr]


The faces of Bayon. Straight out of Indiana Jones, man!
Image: Henry Flower [wikipedia]

Potala Palace and Jokhang Temple

Potala Palace, built on top of the Red Mountain in Lhasa, Tibet, China was built by the first emperor of Tibet in 637 CE. The current palace was re-constructed in the mid-1600s by the fifth Dalai Lama.

The Palace consists of two main buildings, the Potrang Karpo (White Palace) and Portrang Marpo (Red Palace). It was the chief home of the fourteenth and current Dalai Lama until he was forced to flee to India when China invaded Tibet in 1959. It is now a state museum.


Potala Palace. Image: Press Club of Tibet


The White Palace. Image: vwsluk [Flickr]

 Jokan temple is the spiritual center of Lhasa and is considered the most important and sacred temple in Tibet. The temple was built in 642 CE and has since housed the single most venerated object in Tibetan Buddhism: a statue of Gautama Temple, the founder of Buddhism.

The city of Lhasa has three concentric paths that pilgrims use to walk to Jokhang Temple. Many actually prostrate themselves along these routes in order to gain spiritual merit!


Jokhang Temple. Image: The boy with the thorn in his side [Flickr]


The courtyard of the Jokhang Temple. Image: polymerchicken [Flickr]


Two golden deers flanking a Dharma Wheel and a golden bell at the roof of Jokhang Temple. Image: satellite360 [Flickr]


Pilgrims prostrate themselves in front of Jokhang. Image: thriol [Flickr]

Varanasi

Varanasi in India is not a temple, but ais ctually a famous Hindu holy city, located at the banks of the Ganges River. It is, however, often called the “City of Temples,” where almost every road crossing has a nearby temple. A center of pilgrimage (as many as a million pilgrims visit Varanasi each year), the city has links to Buddhism and Jainism as well.


Sunrise at the Ganges River in Varanasi. Image: ironmanix [Flickr]


Temples are everywhere in Varanasi. Image: juicyrai [Flickr]


Pilgrims believe that bathing in the Ganges River will cleanse them of sins.
Image: Jackson Lee [Flickr]

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Mar 28
5 Extreme Mammals
icon1 sosys | icon2 Facts, Life | icon4 03 28th, 2008| icon31 Comment »

Mammals are warm-blooded, covered with hair, bear live young, and produce milk to feed them, and we like to think of ourselves as the best mammal around. However, in many categories other animals have us beat, paws down.

The Biggest

Some people argue that a vegetarian diet can’t support a large life-form. They obviously haven’t met the Blue Whale(Balenoptera musculus), a massive creature that survives on plankton.

Weighing in at 150 tons, the blue whale isn’t only the largest mammal but, in fact, the largest animal known. Its ability to maintain life on such a grand scale is aided by its oceanic lifestyle.

In comparison, the bull African Elephant (Loxodonta Africana) is the largest land animal, and it weighs a mere 12 tons.

The Smallest

The title “smallest mammal” is only slightly smaller than the animal it describes. A native of Thailand, measuring 1.14-1.3 inches and weighing 0.06-0.07 ounces, Kitti’s hog–nosed bat (Craseonycteris thonglongyai), or bumblebee bat, truly earns its title.


Bumblebee Bat


Etruscan Pygmy Shrew

The smallest land mammal, the pygmy shrew (Suncus etruscus), is only slightly larger, tilting the scales at a heft 0.05-0.09 ounces. These pipsqueaks are so small that they’re outweighed by two standard paperclips.

Even though their diminutive stature places them eye to eye with many snails and insects, these two animals are true warm-blooded vertebrates: they are covered with hair, and their females produce milk - mammals to the core.

The Fastest

As might be expected, the winner in this category depends on the terrain. Mammals are found in the air, water, and land, and each domain requires different types of locomotion skills.

The fastest air mammal is the big brown bat (Eptesicus fuscus), which can flap its way up to 15.5 miles per hour. The fastest water mammal reaches a significantly higher 34 miles per hour - and at this speed the killer whale (Orcinus orca) can definitely have its choice of the catch of the day.

However, clocking in at 70 miles per hour, the overall fastest mammal is a land creature, the cheetah (Acinonyx jubatus). Due to the amazing amount of energy required, this cat can pour on the power only for short periods of time, but that’s of little comfort
to gazelles it sets its sights on.

The Slowest

In a competition over slowness, three animals come to mind: the tortoise, the sloth, and the snail. Of these contestants the snail is definitely the winner hands down. The garden snail clocks in at a molasses-like 0.03 miles per hour. Moving at a steady pace, it would take the snail 12.5 hours to go around a standard city block.

However, the category is the slowest mammal, and snails (and tortoises) aren’t mammals. On that technicality the three-toed sloth (Bradypus variegates) pulls into the winner’s circle.

Three-toed sloths, believe it or not, have three toes and spend the vast majority of their lives in the rain forests of Central and South America. These speedsters register 0.15 miles per hour, making then 5 times faster than the garden snail but 467 times slower than the cheetah.

The Thickest

No, this award doesn’t refer to mental capacity; that could be a much tougher call. The rinocheros (Diceros bicornis michaeli) is the land mammal with the thickest skin of any animal. Rough boss, critical spouse - with 1-inch-thick skin, these tough guys can handle it all. Well, maybe not the boss.

Strange But True: X-Treme Mating

The male platypus is one of only two known venomous mammals. The venom, however, is delivered not by fangs but by retractable spurs on the male platypus’ hind legs.

Even stranger, these spurs aren’t really used on predators and prey. Instead, platypus venom is reserved for battles with rival males during what must be an extreme mating season.

In the very few documented cases where humans have been envenomed, the results were intense. The unfortunate victims reported tremendous pain
that did not respond to morphine and lingered for months.

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